Isurus

Isurus
Temporal range: Cretaceous - recent
[1][2]
Shortfin mako shark (I. oxyrinchus)
Longfin mako shark (I. paucus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Chondrichthyes
Order:Lamniformes
Family:Lamnidae
Genus:Isurus
Rafinesque, 1810
Type species
Isurus oxyrinchus
Rafinesque, 1810
Synonyms
  • Isuropsis Gill, 1862
  • Lamiostoma Glikman, 1964
  • Oxyrhina Agassiz, 1838
  • Oxyrrhina Bonaparte, 1846
  • Plectrostoma Gistel, 1848

Isurus is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks.

Description

The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (I. oxyrinchus) and the rare longfin mako shark (I. paucus). They range in length from 2.5 to 4.5 m (8.2 to 14.8 ft), and have an approximate maximum weight of 800 kg (1,800 lb).

Several extinct species are known from fossils found in sediments from Cretaceous to Quaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).[1]

The family Lamnidae also includes the great white shark and the porbeagle. Mako sharks are capable of swimming at speeds up to 60 km/h (37 mph), and jumping up to 7 m (23 ft) into the air. The great white shark is also closely related to an ancient mako shark, Isurus hastalis. However, fossil evidence suggests I. hastalis belonged to the genus Carcharodon.[3] Unique among members of the Lamniformes order, Mako sharks occasionally exhibit homosexual behavior outside of their usual mating season.[4]

Species

The genus contains these species:[1]

  • Isurus oxyrinchus (Rafinesque, 1810) (shortfin mako)[5]
  • Isurus paucus (Guitart-Manday, 1966) (longfin mako)[6]
  • †Isurus desori (Agassiz, 1843)
  • †Isurus escheri Agassiz 1843
  • †Isurus flandricus (Leriche, 1910)
  • †Isurus minutus (Agassiz, 1843)
  • †Isurus nakaminatoensis (Saito, 1961)
  • †Isurus planus (Agassiz, 1856)
  • †Isurus praecursor (Leriche, 1905)
  • †Isurus rameshi (Mehrotra, Mishra & Srivastava, 1973)
  • †Isurus spallanzani Rafinesque 1810
Fossil teeth of I. hastalis

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fossilworks
  2. ↑ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30.
  3. ↑ "Origin of the white shark Carcharodon (Lamniformes: Lamnidae) based on recalibration of the Upper Neogene Pisco Formation of Peru". Wiley Online Library. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Garrison, Tom (2007). Oceanography : an invitation to marine science. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. ISBN 978-0-495-11286-0. OCLC 77765037.
  5. ↑ Smith, J.L.B. Sharks of the Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810. Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 6. Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
  6. ↑ Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982 ISBN 0-00-216987-8
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